Chinese officials involved in the project have described the deal as a major scoop for the Chinese government, which had earlier struck a deal with former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra — only to see the project initially rejected by the junta when it came to power.
Now the military government has approved the project, "there will be huge room for cooperation [between China and Thailand]," Yang Yong of the China Railway Corp told China Daily, adding that Chinese engineers had been involved in feasibility research for the high-speed lines, and Chinese companies were directly helping to modernise Thailand's railway system.
The effect of high-speed rail is likely to change South-east Asia and the way it does business for good, says Geoff Wade of the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University.
"When the people of the mainland countries soon find, through the convenience of [high-speed railways], that Kunming is their 'closest neighbour' but a few hours away, the Yunnan capital will gradually emerge as the hub of the Greater Mekong Region and will eventually become, in effect, the capital of mainland Southeast Asia," Wade wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Blog.